On Thursday, Mar. 2 at 7 p.m. in Kresge Auditorium, Dr. Jayme Ringleb, an Assistant Professor in Meredith’s English Department, will be reading poems from their recently published poetry collection “So Tall it Ends in Heaven.” According to Dr. Ringleb, the collection “follows a queer Southern speaker who, after the end of his marriage, tries to restore a relationship with his father.”
The collection focuses on the challenging relationship between the speaker and his father and, in a more broad sense, asks the reader “if queer individuals’ understandings of love are so often inflected by familial losses… how [they] can say ‘love’ without also signifying grief.” While many themes relate specifically to queer identity and relationships, Dr. Ringleb shared that the work also has universal applications and value.
This collection centers the issue of love when mixed with loss. Dr. Ringleb shared that many of the poems in the work are entitled some variation of “Love Poem.” These poems, including “Love Poem so Tall It Ends in Heaven” and “Love Poem to the Son My Father Wished For,” subvert the traditional idea of a love poem. Instead of a focus on love for others the overarching theme of “Love Poem” is self-love, something Dr. Ringleb thinks makes it “The most consolatory or soothing poem in the collection” and the one they’re most excited to share with students.
Dr. Ringleb said that they are “very grateful for the opportunity to share the collection here at Meredith!” Interested students can access the book before or after the event through Carlyle Campbell Library or through most local and digital booksellers.
By Clary Taylor, Copy Editor
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